Alex Wurz, the president of the Formula 1 drivers' union, has confirmed that the controversial crash between Max Verstappen and Lando Norris in Austria will be a topic of discussion during the GPDA meeting at Silverstone, preceding the British GP.
Former driver Johnny Herbert, who was a steward at the Red Bull Ring, justified the penalty given to Verstappen, stating, "It was Max's fault. He intimidates everybody," Herbert, once Michael Schumacher's teammate, mentioned to Coinpoker.
"Lando did the right thing. He did not move. He did not have to."
In contrast, Red Bull's F1 advisor Dr Helmut Marko criticized Norris' "pathetic" response to the crash.
"In the future, he should consider that it might be a smart option to finish a race instead of taking incalculable risks," he told f1-insider.com.
Former Alpha Tauri head Franz Tost also shared his thoughts: "Does Norris seriously believe that Verstappen will put on his indicators because it's Norris and allow himself to be overtaken so easily?"
A related issue is whether the friendship between Norris and Verstappen can be mended. "I understand they've already talked," team boss Christian Horner revealed.
"Of course, Max won't change," the Red Bull leader added. "I think Lando is learning to race with Max and they're discovering it together."
McLaren's Andrea Stella, on the other hand, believes the FIA might need to take stricter measures on Verstappen's on-track conduct to prevent a recurrence of the highly controversial 2021 title fight between Max and Lewis Hamilton.
"I understand what he means," GPDA president Wurz told motorsport-magazin.com, "and it's clear that we're going to have to talk about it."
"But I would warn against too many extra rules. We shouldn't divide every fight into commas and full stops. Then the sport becomes too much governed by the rules and descriptions of situations," said the Austrian.
"I always come back to: Let them race. It's exactly what the public wants to see. You can see that drivers can also get grumpy or hot-headed, but in the end, the one who can keep the coolest head wins."
"Next time, both of them will think a bit more about needing to reach the finish line. But this whole story has a history and it is far from over," Wurz, 50, continued.
"I would have preferred that they could have fought hard together in the following laps, but they touched each other - so now we have enough to discuss." body check tags ::
